Love's Timeline
by Shantel Lukasik
Summary: Hannah Snow's inferiority complex has only gotten worse over the years. From her unexpected birth, living in her sister's brilliant shadow, to being the assistant's assistant forensic scientist to a man who has been in a coma for nine months, she struggles to find her place. Despite Barry's greatness, can Hannah find her own inner hero and realize her own value as Barry has?
1. Chapter 1

"Snow, right on time!" Captain David Singh grinned, giving me a pat on the shoulder as I crossed the yellow tape the Central City Police had just put up around the crime scene," Nothing like Allen."

I gave him an awkward smile as I pulled the strap of my bag off of my shoulder. As Capt. Singh went over to speak with Eddie Thawne, Detective Joe West replaced him. He gave me his usual gentle smile.

"Having a good day so far, Hannah?"

I sighed and gave him a look.

"Whenever you say that, I know what I'm going to be looking at is gross..."

Joe laughed as I looked in front of me and felt my breakfast almost come back up through my esophagus. Luckily, only a disgusted yelp passed my lips. The pavement was decorated with what used to consist of a human head.

"Oh, hellllll no," I said, looking at the older man," You all need to be paying me Barry Allen's salary for that, not this "assistant of an assistant forensic scientist" crap Singh is pulling so he doesn't need to pay me as much."

Joe gave me a saddened look.

"That...is partially my fault. I convinced him that Barry will be back...soon...I hope."

Feeling slightly guilty, I turned to him as I began putting on a pair of plastic gloves. I never leave the house without a pair in my pocket ready to put on.

"I know you love him like a son, Joe. I do understand. And I can promise you, my sister and the others at S.T.A.R. Labs are working their asses off to make sure he will be perfect when he wakes up. Until that time, though, I'm still going to hear about how much smarter he was, but far less punctual."

Joe gave my shoulder a squeeze before I turned to the pavement. A putrid scent reached my nose as I knelt down and opened my bag.

"Ugh, okay...here we go..."

That is just a small snippet of how my days have been ever since I got a job with the Central City Police. I had been working for S.T.A.R. Labs like my sister, Caitlin, until the whole particle accelerator debacle. In college, I had majored in Criminal Justice and Forensic Science, but Central City hadn't needed anyone until Barry Allen had been struck by lightning. Annoying as it was, they gave me half of the job, as if that made sense. But I was finally making use of both of my majors and, as I was never nearly as smart as my sister, I was happy with the job change. Cait was kind of pissed at me for leaving like a lot of the other employees did, especially after her fiancée died because of the accident, but someone needed to keep it together. Nine months and every day I kept dreaming Capt. Singh would walk into the lab, which was still left generally _for_ Barry's possible return, and tell me I was a fully fledged member of the police force. No such luck, but beggars can't be choosers, and I needed to pay my rent so I didn't have to keep living with my sister. I love her, but everyone needs to leave the nest at some point. Living with her through college and all was great, but I needed to spread my wings instead of continually piggybacking off of her greatness. One day, Hannah Snow would make a name for herself. But...maybe only if Barry Allen never comes back.

One evening after a rare day off, I traipsed my way into S.T.A.R. Labs to see how my sister was doing. I visited her rather often, which included her and Cisco rambling on about Barry Allen's vitals and when he might wake up. They would also toss in some talk about their current pet projects, but I only listened half the time. Dr. Wells was there, too. It was nice that he and I were still cool after the whole quitting issue. In fact, he didn't blame me at all. Then again, the man blamed himself so much for what happened so I felt really bad for him. Truthfully, I spent a lot of time with the incoherent Barry, babysitting to give the others a break. I couldn't entirely be upset with my life gravitating around his return. A lot of people care about him and that isn't a bad thing.

"Caitlin!"

I called out to her halfway down the hall, knowing she could hear me through the large, mostly empty building.

"I got compared to Barry Allen _again_. I swear, I've never even met the guy aside from seeing him taking his naps in here and yet I feel like I know the guy. Allen this, Barry that. I mean what the hell kind of name is Barry anyway? It's like a combination of a bear and a dairy, am I right?"

As I turned into the entrance to the lab, I froze. Standing in the middle of the lab was my sister, Cisco Ramon, and, the most shocking of all, Barry Allen. Dr. Wells turned his wheelchair to face me from his position at the computer. Unsurprisingly, Caitlin looked embarrassed for me while Cisco and Dr. Wells just smiled. Barry was staring at me with raised eyebrows.

"It's...short for Bartholomew."

I was in the process of staring at all of them, cheeks reddening, when Barry's hand began to vibrate very quickly. My eyebrows shot up into my hairline.

"Uhm...I'm going to try and slide past the fact that I was bad-mouthing my now awake pseudo co-worker and ask why his hand is freaking out. So, why is his hand freaking out!?"

Dr. Wells rolled toward me, causing me to shift my attention to him.

"Hannah...as best as we can...it would be beneficial if you do not speak to anyone about Barry's...condition. We were about to take him out to the old Ferris Air runway to run some tests. He woke up this morning and...states that he is able to run exceptionally fast."

"And I have abs now," Barry pitched in.

I looked between the two of them.

"Oh...kay. All scientific secrets are safe with me. Though, I would love to know how to get overnight abs."

My embarrassment lessoned slightly as Barry gave a soft laugh at my comment. Attempting to recover from the very odd situation, I marched myself around the computers and over to Barry. I reached out a hand, slightly worried he might shake my arm right out of my socket, but he managed to greet me normally.

"I'm Hannah Snow. Caitlin's sister and your new...underling? I took over your job but only as an _assistant's_ assistantforensic scientist. I promise you everything in the lab is just how you left it. You're...a lot taller than I thought..."

Caitlin glared at me in the awkward silence.

"Hannah," she hissed, warning me to shut up with her eyes.

I have a bad habit of saying too much. Barry just grinned at me, making my heart skip a beat because his smile was so cute.

"I look forward to working with you and I think my height hasn't changed unlike...other things."

"Oh, yeah. I mean, I guess it's just different because I watched you while you were sleeping."

Awkward silence again. Dammit.

"Not that I "watched" you sleep, it was more like- So you were going to run tests? Can I come watch?"

Everyone but my sister laughed at my change in topic. Before long, we were all packed into a S.T.A.R. Labs van with a lot of equipment and went out to Ferris Air, myself being the designated driver. After helping everyone set up, I chatted with Cisco until he went to check on Barry, who was changing in the van.

"How does it fit?" Cisco called, a smile on his face.

I couldn't help but snort in amusement as my co-worker stepped out of the van in a bright red wrestling outfit. He was also sporting running sneakers, knee pads, elbow pads, goggles, and a helmet that had been "Cisco'd" as I lovingly put it.

"It's a little snug," Barry admitted.

"Fitting, since you look a bit like a bug," I snickered.

Cisco grinned at me before looking back at Barry.

"At least you'll be moving so fast, no one will see you," he joked.

While they walked off, I found myself understanding why most people liked this Barry Allen guy. For one, he was one of those adorable nerds, like my sister and Cisco, so he fit right in with our group on that level. Yes, I did just complement myself slightly while thinking about Barry. Sure, my sister was the gorgeous one, but I wasn't trailing too far behind her with my luxurious light brown hair. Okay...maybe not _luxurious_ since it went just past my shoulder blades, but whatever. That came with having a different mother. Back to Barry, he seemed to be really good natured, maintained a decent sense of humor, and was super smart. No wonder most of those he worked with liked him and why I was chillin' in assistant-ville. I could have been an assistant to an asshole like in the past, so I was thanking my lucky stars. Ugh, Rathaway...

While everyone did their thing, I stood by the computers. My job was to make sure they were running. Riveting. As my sister came to my side, staring at the tablet with Barry's vitals, I glanced at her.

"Doing okay, Cait? "

"As much as ever."

I tapped my fingers on the table before me. Every time I see how much my sister has been suffering since Ronnie's loss, I feel terribly guilty. As I looked at her, I wondered if there was more I could have done to be there for her. But, I couldn't understand how she felt. I've never been close to engaged or as in love as the two of them were. Ronnie had looked at my sister like...he had won the ultimate lottery prize. Like Caitlin was the best thing that had happened to him. _Ever_. And while I missed the guy because he was such a good friend and was great for my sister, I could never understand the pain that she was going through inside. And sure, we had Wine Wednesdays every week where we sat watching Netflix and drank, but it was always a temporary fix. She would cry sometimes and then just...go back to being stony faced.

"Here we go," Caitlin mumbled, causing me to look forward again. Just as I did, Barry disappeared in a blur and all of us watching were almost blown off our feet, Cisco _actually_ blown off his feet.

"Holy crap..." I mumbled, staring after him in shock.

Caitlin handed me the tablet as she grabbed some binoculars. Dr. Wells came around to look at the computer.

"So his heart really is beating that fast?" I asked, staring at the screen.

"Yes."

"And he is going faster than-"

"Yes."

Part of me, up until that point, had entertained the idea that Barry maintained an odd tick after waking up. Now...things were different. The particle accelerator had made him...something more than human. I was just about to ask Dr. Wells another question when a loud crash made me jump.

"BARRY!" Caitlin shouted, running back toward the computers," He hit the water barrels, at that speed he might be injured."

I put down the tablet and turned to Cisco.

"Close up the trailer really quick, I'll drive down and get him while you all pack up the equipment. Make it snappy."

"Yes, Miss Dictator..."

I grabbed the keys from my leather jacket pocket, pushing past a fresh set of plastic gloves, and dashed to the driver's side of the van. After hearing Cisco slam the door to the back shut, I took off down the stretch of asphalt. Reaching the crash site, I jumped out of the of the trailer. Some of the plastic barrels looked like they had exploded. A disheveled Barry sat in the middle, groaning and clutching his wrist.

"Barry," I asked him, worried," Tell me what hurts."

"Just about everything," he cringed," But this is the worst."

I couldn't help but shudder at his disfigured wrist. I quickly scanned his body, checking his limbs and head to make sure nothing was too severely injured. His wrist definitely was the main victim of the crash. I helped him stand up and let him use me as a crutch to get back to the car.

"Don't worry, together Caitlin and I can patch up just about anything. We'll need to get you back to the lab first though, so hang tight."

"It's cool, I'm used to pain," Barry grunted, settling into the passenger seat temporarily.

I rushed around the van and got into the driver's seat.

"Guess you were bullied?"

"A bit..."

The rest of the group had worked proficiently while I had picked up Barry. The injured male was moved to the back of the van with Caitlin so she could start looking it over on the way back. Cisco joined me at the front. As soon as we were back at the lab, Caitlin whisked Barry off in her own speedy way to run x-ray scans. After doing so, she let him change out of his ugly outfit and back into normal clothes. I waited outside the room to help him get back to the lab without getting lost. Once we met back with my sister, Caitlin gave him his verdict.

"It looks like you had a distal radius fracture," Caitlin informed him, showing him the x-ray.

"Had?" he asked her, cautiously.

Swiping the tablet, a new x-ray showed a perfectly healed wrist.

"It's healed. In three hours," Caitlin agreed.

"How is that even possible?" Barry asked.

Caitlin hesitated while I watched Cisco breeze past me, doing his own thing.

"We don't know. Yet," she told him.

I followed Caitlin to sit by the scans of Barry as Dr. Wells came to talk to him. I didn't listen in until I heard Barry say something.

"When I was eleven, my mother was murdered."

Caitlin looked at me before glancing over at him. I stared blankly at the computer screen. I had gotten to be friends with Iris, who claimed herself as Barry's best friend, and Joe. Neither of them told me much about Barry, as far as his past. I knew he grew up in their home, but now I was hearing why.

"It was late. The sound woke me up. I came downstairs...and I saw what looked like a ball of lightning. Inside the lightning...there was a man. He killed my mom. They arrested my dad. He's still sitting in Iron Heights for her murder. Everyone, the cops, the shrinks, they all told me what I saw was impossible. But what if the man who killed my mom was like me?"

"Well," Dr. Wells objected," I think I can say unequivocally, you are one of a kind."

Barry didn't have anything to say to that. Cisco got up from his seat where he had been tinkering with the helmet Barry wore.

"We're really sorry that happened to you, man," he said.

I cleared my throat and got up.

"Okay, I think he has been tortured enough for today. Barry, how about you head out?"

Dr. Wells jumped on my suggestion.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea. We need to look over the information we retrieved today. Get some rest and we will see you tomorrow."

Barry nodded and headed out of the lab. Dr. Wells turned a look on me as he slowly removed his glasses. I pointed a finger at him, immediately understanding the expression he had turned on me.

"I don't work for you anymore, Dr. Wells, you know that..."

"Yes, but we need to be told if something happens to him, Hannah. I will pay you if that is what it takes."

I groaned. I was getting roped into this. Part of me knew that Dr. Wells wanted to have enough of an eye on me as well so I didn't spill the beans to anyone. I may suck at keeping my own private thoughts to myself, but I wasn't a blabbermouth about other people's secrets.

"You don't have to pay me. The poor guy doesn't know what is happening to him. None of us do. And as long as you don't pay me, I won't feel inclined to report to you. I promise that if his health starts declining or an emergency pops up, I'll let you know. I'm not going to give you daily updates on his lunch and how it affected him."

Dr. Wells gave me a strained smile.

"That's all I ask."


	2. Chapter 2

It was not too much later in the day when I received a phone call to come survey a crime scene ASAP. Since Barry had yet to officially be back at work, I was still on call. When I arrived, there had been a major car wreck. After giving all my information to Eddie, I was surprised to hear yelling. I came around one of the police cars to see Joe scolding Barry with Iris standing by. From what Joe was saying, he was telling Barry that his dad really did kill his mom and he needed to stop believing otherwise. Barry just walked away. Iris, looking sad, glanced around and spotted me. I tilted my head toward her but she just shook her head. As I was done with work, I decided to go after Barry as he looked really upset.

"Barry, wait!" I called out as he got past the tape.

He glanced back and saw me.

"I don't really want to talk," he said.

I got myself in stride with him as he moved down the pavement.

"Just hear me out and don't dash off on me, okay? Just...talk to me. What did you see? You were there, right? Some of the bullshit I gave Eddie was to get around the fact that someone super-fast and a criminal met face to face, so spit it out."

The male gave out a heavy sigh, but obliged me.

"A man named Clyde Mardon committed a crime on the night of the particle accelerator explosion. He was the man behind the wheel. He is the bank robber that has people talking about fog. He has powers. It's one thing that Joe doesn't believe me since he watched the guy die from his plane crashing, but..."

I thought for a minute.

"You're pissed because you're not the only one out there."

"Why didn't they tell me?" Barry rounded on me.

We were stopped now in the middle of a sidewalk. I frowned at him.

"I don't know! There could be a multitude of reasons. Sure, I _used_ to work there, but I left before they began looking into the repercussions of the accident. Maybe they just didn't know."

"Well, I need to know if they did or not."

He began stalking off again. I sighed and stayed where I was.

"Barry, I know you could get there in seconds, but I'd like to hear what they have to say as well. My car is right here. Come on."

The fastest man alive stared at me before moving back toward me. Upon reaching S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry was in full force. He was talking as soon as he hit the lab.

"I wasn't the only one affected by the particle accelerator explosion, was I?"

I raced in behind him to find the three scientists staring at him with their mouths open. Dr. Wells looked at his employees for a moment before looking back at us.

"We don't know for sure."

"You said the city was safe, that there was no residual danger. But that's not true. So, what really happened that night?"

Dr. Wells glanced back at Caitlin and Cisco. To me, everyone looked exceptionally guilty. I grabbed a nearby chair and planted myself in it as Dr. Wells spoke again, tapping on the screen on his wheelchair.

"Well, the accelerator went active. We all felt like heroes, and then...it all went wrong."

Barry and I turned to see the particle accelerator diagram being broadcasted onto one of the multiple computer screens in the room.

"The dimensional barrier ruptured unleashing unknown energies into our world. Antimatter, dark energy, X-elements—"

"Those are all theoretical," Barry countered.

"And how theoretical are you?" Dr. Wells pointed out," We mapped the dispersion throughout and around Central City, thought we have no way of knowing exactly what or who was exposed. We've been searching for other meta-humans like yourself.

"'Meta-humans'?" both Barry and I questioned.

"That's what we're calling them," Caitlin added.

I caught her eyes before sighing and looking away. My sister and I had more secrets than I thought...

"I saw one today," Barry informed the others," He's a bank robber and he can control the weather."

"This just keeps getting cooler," Cisco smiled.

I shook my head at him. As someone who worked for the police force, this was not a humorous matter.

"This is not cool. All right? A man died," Barry angrily objected," Mardon must have gotten his powers the same way I did from the storm cloud. He's still out there. We have to stop him before he hurts anyone else."

Barry began to head for the door as Dr. Wells called out to him.

"Barry. That's a job for the police."

"I work for the police."

"As a forensic assistant."

I bit my lip as Cisco, Caitlin, and I became real bystanders in this conversation.

"You're responsible for this. For him," Barry told him.

"What's important is you," Dr. Wells yelled," Not me. I lost everything. I lost my company. I lost my reputation. I lost my freedom. And then you broke your arm, and it healed in three hours. Inside your body could be a map to a whole new world. Genetic therapies, vaccines, medicines, treasures buried deep within your cells and we cannot risk losing everything because you want to go out and play hero. You're not a hero. You're just a young man who was struck by lightning."

The lab was quiet as Barry looked around at each of us. No one said anything. Dr. Wells had a point. Scientifically, Barry could be incredibly important for the future. No one stopped him as he left the lab. I sighed and got up from my chair.

"I wish I had been informed of these...meta-humans. I might have been able to let you all know if I saw something out of place on a crime scene or in a case...for the past nine months. But even outside my job, nothing is more important unless Barry Allen is involved, right? I couldn't possibly be smart enough to help you all find these people."

Caitlin got up out of her chair.

"Hannah, it isn't like that. Wait-"

"I'll see you later, Cait."

I left the lab, not needing to hear anything more. As I made my way to my car, I stopped as I opened the door. If there were meta-humans committing crimes, then the police probably had no way of catching up to them. There might be records still at CCPD. Making up my mind, I got into the car and headed for work. I had been there for about an hour, accumulating files of unsolved cases from after the explosion when the door to the records room opened. I didn't look up, my excuse already prepared.

"Just looking for files related to some cases. You all know I'm a workaholic. I think it may be someone-"

I glanced up to see Barry watching me, which made my mouth shut.

"You're doing what I'm here hoping to do," he grinned," Let me help, it'll go quicker."

I jumped as he disappeared and a yellow streak blazed around the room, files filling up in the box every time I blinked. Within a couple seconds, Barry was standing next to me.

"I read all of them. They must be meta-humans. There has been a serious spike in crime since the particle accelerator explosion."

Something inside of me snapped, making my chest hurt and my body heat up.

"Great, Barry. You can go ahead and pack it all up and take it over to S.T.A.R. Labs to prove what a genius you are. I'm going to call it a night."

I grabbed my jacket, which I had tossed on a chair much earlier that evening, and made my way to the door. Just as I moved to exit, Barry's hand was on my shoulder, holding me back.

"Wait, what...did I upset you?"

I took a deep breath before turning to Barry.

"No, you're just another person on the list of people who make me feel inferior in everything I do. Really, it's okay. I'm used to it. Go ahead and do what you have to. You don't need my help. I think I'll spend the rest of my evening writing my resignation letter considering I'm going to get the boot as soon as you're back at work. I might even start some job applications! After all, you don't need an assistant when you can finish everything within a matter of minutes. The CCPD really is lucky to have you, Bartholomew."

I wrenched my shoulder away from his grip and had made it halfway down the hall before I was swept up. I barely had time to shriek before I was placed down on the street in front of S.T.A.R. Labs. My stomach felt like it had flipped upside down, like when a roller coaster picks up full speed.

"Oh, God, I think I'm going to throw up."

I took deep breaths, willing myself to keep it together. After feeling my stomach settle back down, I turned to see Barry watching me, the box of files under one of his arms. I pointed a finger at him.

"Did you just pitch me up under your arm like a rag doll?!"

Barry seemed unable to keep a straight face at my comment.

"Hannah, I'm sorry if you feel like less of a person because I stepped in on what you were doing. I only meant to help since we both had the same idea. And for the record, that doesn't make you inferior. That makes you smarter because I ran off to Starling City while you went ahead and started on this."

"Starling City? That's like...That's not a short trip. Wait, why there?"

"Just…to clear my head. My point is, you're not inferior. Not to me and I doubt to anyone else. You used to work here, remember?"

Barry gestured toward the gigantic building we stood in front of.

"That means you're on par with any other scientist. And if we're going to be tracking down meta-humans, it would be nice working with someone who knows about them so I don't have to hide the truth."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"If I quit, they wouldn't hire anyone to replace me."

"Captain Singh is a cheapskate. Yes, you are being seriously underpaid, but I need your help. I've been gone for nine months, but you've been there. You are needed."

"You don't seriously know that," I scoffed, attempting to walk away before realizing my car was at CCPD," Do I seriously need to walk all the way back to work?! Barry!"

Barry grinned at me.

"If you help me convince Caitlin and Cisco to listen to me and you stay to help, I will take you back to your car. No cab fare and no extra walking. Hannah, I can just feel it. I _know_ that you're important."

I stared at the ridiculous male before me. He looked completely convinced about the things coming out of his mouth.

"You're an idiot," was all I could say.

"That's the most accurate thing you've said since we met."

I glared at him for a hot second before sighing.

"UGH, fine. But I'm calling you Bear Dairy as a punishment," I informed him as I marched into the building.

"Please don't..."

It took little convincing to get Cisco and Caitlin to listen to what Barry (and I, as he insisted) had found. Caitlin's guilt was the only reason she chose to listen, either from guilt about my outburst or about the meta-human creation, I was not quite sure.

"We've been going over unsolved cases from the past nine months and there're been a sharp increase in unexplained deaths and missing people. Your meta-humans have been busy. Now, I'm not blaming you. I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen. I know you all lost something. But I need your help to catch Mardon and anyone else out there like him. I can't do it without you. All of you."

Caitlin and Cisco looked at each other. Cisco began to grin.

"If we're going to do this, I have something that might help."

The three of use followed Cisco into another lab room. After corralling us together, Cisco turned around a metal table.

"Something I've been playing with," he added, revealing a red suit fairly intricately made," It's designed to replace the turnouts firefighters traditionally wear. I thought if S.T.A.R. Labs could do something nice for the community, maybe people wouldn't be so angry with Dr. Wells anymore."

"How is it going to help me?" Barry asked as he moved to look at it more closely.

"It's made of a reinforced tri-polymer. It's heat and abrasive resistant so it should withstand your moving at high-velocity speeds and the aerodynamic design should help you maintain control. Plus, it has built-in sensors so we can track your vitals and stay in contact with you from here."

"Thanks. Now how do we find Mardon?"

Caitlin stepped up after grabbing her tablet from a side table in the lab.

"I retasked S.T.A.R. Labs' satellite to track the meteorological abnormalities over Central City."

Everyone moved around to look at the screen of the tablet.

"We just got a ping. Atmospheric pressure dropped twenty millibars in a matter of seconds. I've tracked it to a farm just west of the city."

I glanced up at Barry, who was moving back over to the suit.

"That has to be where the Mardon brothers hid out before. That location was pulled up on Joe's computer when I went to CCPD. He is probably there right now to see if Mardon went to the same hideout spot."

Barry looked at me in alarm.

"Then I need to get over there. They won't be able to just catch him."

The three of us were taken aback as Barry changed into the suit in the blink of an eye. Cisco was grinning.

"Dude, you look like a superhero. It's amazing!"

I tilted my head.

"Huh, it looks good. Kind of sexy," I nodded.

Barry looked a bit bashful, but just smiled at us.

"Okay," Caitlin started, moving out into larger lab to work at the computers," We'll be able to monitor what is happening from here."

"You'll be able to hear us through the intercom on the suit and we'll be able to hear you. Good luck man," Cisco added.

"Be careful, okay?" I told him, feeling guiltier about my earlier outburst.

Barry smiled at us.

"Thanks, guys."

He was then gone in a flash.


End file.
